It is fashionable in some quarters to denounce the ‘inefficient’ way the NHS runs itself. ‘Administrators’ seem to attract particular attention. But this is nearly always unfair. And ultimately self-defeating. (more…)
The NHS: What our pundits, planners and politicians keep missing
There is a view, recently advocated by Health Advisor Paul Corrigan (paywall), which says that the NHS’s need to reflect more patient involvement in their healthcare can be facilitated by greater use of smartphones and expanding patient choice about treatment options and selection of hospitals. (more…)
NHS money is invested not poured
Rachel Reeves’ budget, the first Labour budget for 14 years, gave the NHS much-needed money, despite the fact that the increase in employers’ national insurance would take a fair bite out of it so must be borne in mind. But how the figures are viewed matters almost as much. (more…)
Riding the digital beast
No one uses fax machines any more. X-ray films in their bulging racks are a thing of the past. Online and phone consultations, hastened by Covid, are now commonplace. Progress happens and people can gain greatly. The NHS can be better this way. And yet… (more…)
Drugs for jobs?
The principle of a national health service paid for though general taxation and free at the point of need is beautifully simple. (more…)
Beware the private trap
There is a chance the government will be swayed by a proposal put forward by the private healthcare lobby to invest massively in the private sector to ease waiting list pressures – to the tune of £1 billion, according to some news reports. We say beware. (more…)
Un-broken (but deliberately damaged)
If something is broken, can it be fixed? That may well have been the hoped-for question when the NHS was referred to as ‘broken’. The problem is, the NHS isn’t a car, a computer, a pothole or an attendance record. Its complexity and size make simple summaries such as ‘the NHS is broken’ almost guaranteed….
Physician Associates (PAs) in the NHS; did anyone really think this through?
In 2003 the role of PA, then known as Physician Assistant, was introduced to the NHS. Some had trained as a Physician Assistant in the USA – a 3 year course there in comparison with 3 years in the UK. The numbers here were small and few of us were aware of them. (more…)
More cash for the NHS is not enough
Both Labour and the Conservative pledges on the NHS announced recently amount to continued hardship and austerity in the face of record demands for services and increasing reliance on for-profit services, often in such a way that the public cannot readily discern the role private healthcare providers play – or the cash they take out….
DFNHS Joins Call for Elected Scrutiny Panels
DFNHS has joined with 15 other organisations in presenting evidence to Parliament’s Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) Inquiry into NHS leadership, performance and patient safety, in a bid to improve the way disciplinary procedures are carried out in hospitals. The Inquiry accepted the evidence to consider. (more…)